Alphabets
The Santali alphabet ᱚᱞ ᱪᱤᱠᱤ
Meet every letter of the Santali alphabet, hear how it sounds and see it in simple words.
About Santali
Ol Chiki (ᱚᱞ ᱪᱤᱠᱤ) is written from left to right. It is an alphabet: each sound has its own letter and vowels are written as full letters, not as signs on consonants. The 30 letters are arranged in six rows; each row begins with one of the six vowels ᱚ ᱟ ᱤ ᱩ ᱮ ᱳ. Small marks add nasal sounds (ᱸ), change a vowel (ᱹ) or make it long (ᱻ). The letter names are taken from things whose shapes the letters resemble.
- 30
- letters
- 6
- vowels
- 24
- consonants
- L → R
- writing direction
Vowels ᱨᱚᱦᱚᱲ
The six vowels begin the six rows of the alphabet. Tap a letter to hear it.
Consonants
The consonants of Santali. Tap a letter to hear it.
Row of ᱚ ᱚ ᱛ ᱜ ᱝ ᱞ
after the vowel ɔ
Row of ᱟ ᱟ ᱠ ᱡ ᱢ ᱣ
after the vowel a
Row of ᱤ ᱤ ᱥ ᱦ ᱧ ᱨ
after the vowel i
Row of ᱩ ᱩ ᱪ ᱫ ᱬ ᱭ
after the vowel u
Row of ᱮ ᱮ ᱯ ᱰ ᱱ ᱲ
after the vowel e
Row of ᱳ ᱳ ᱴ ᱵ ᱶ ᱷ
after the vowel o
ᱷ (oh) after a consonant makes it breathy: ᱵᱷ is "bh", as in ᱵᱷᱟᱨᱚᱛ (Bharot, India).
Ready to type in Santali?
Use the on-screen keyboard to write these letters, or translate your first sentence.